Instant Pot Pro 5.7L Review: a solid all‑round cooker that actually saves you time

I’ve been using the Instant Pot Pro 5.7L (the white version) for a few weeks now, mostly for weekday dinners and some batch cooking on Sundays. I’m not a chef, I just want food on the table without standing over the hob for an hour. I’ve owned a basic older Instant Pot before, plus a cheap slow cooker, so I had something to compare it with. This one is clearly a step up in power and features, but it’s not perfect.

The main thing I noticed right away is that it heats and comes to pressure faster than my older model. That 20% extra power they mention doesn’t feel like marketing fluff; you do see the difference when you’re in a rush. A beef stew that used to take ages to preheat now gets going noticeably quicker. For weeknights when you’re already late, that matters more than any fancy recipe ideas.

I’ve tried a bit of everything with it so far: pressure cooked stews, rice, a whole chicken, yoghurt, and a slow-cooked chilli. I also messed around with the app and the WiFi control, mostly out of curiosity. Some of the smart stuff is handy, some of it I’ll probably never touch again. But at the core, it’s still a pressure cooker/slow cooker that either makes your life easier or it just becomes another bulky gadget.

Overall, my first impression is pretty simple: it gets the job done and saves time. If you already have a working Instant Pot and you’re happy with it, this isn’t a life-changing upgrade. But if you cook a lot of one-pot meals and want to cut down on energy and time, this model feels like a solid, practical option rather than a toy you’ll forget about after a month.

In terms of value, the Instant Pot Pro 5.7L sits in that middle-to-upper price range for multi-cookers. It’s not the cheapest, but you’re getting 10 functions, WiFi control, and decent build quality. If you’re only going to use it twice a month, it’s probably overkill. But if you cook a lot of one-pot meals, batch cook for the week, or have a small family and want to avoid using the oven all the time, the price makes more sense.

Where it really saves money is on energy use. Compared to running a full-sized electric oven for 2–3 hours, this thing is cheaper to run, especially for long cooks like pulled pork, stews, or roasting a whole chicken under pressure then finishing under the grill. If you actually replace some oven sessions with this, the energy savings over a year or two help justify the cost. If you just use it like a fancy rice cooker, then you’re not getting full value out of it.

Compared to cheaper multi-cookers, the main differences I noticed are faster heating, better interface, and more reliable results on trickier dishes like yoghurt or thick stews. A budget model will still cook rice and basic stews, but you might deal with more guesswork and less consistent temperatures. Whether that’s worth the extra money depends on how much you cook and how annoyed you get when something doesn’t turn out right.

Overall, I’d call the value good but not mind-blowing. If you actually use several of the modes (pressure cook, slow cook, rice, yoghurt, steam) and cook at home most days, it’s money well spent. If you’re unsure you’ll stick with it and you mostly live on takeaways, then yeah, this will probably end up as an expensive dust collector, and a cheaper model or no cooker at all might make more sense.

Design-wise, this is a big white cylinder with a matte finish. It’s not ugly, but it’s not some design object either. On my dark countertop, the white colour actually looks quite clean and makes it easier to see splashes or dirt, which is good because you can wipe it quickly. The matte finish helps hide fingerprints better than the old shiny stainless models, so it doesn’t look greasy after every use.

The lid feels solid and the locking mechanism is reassuring. When you close it, you get a clear click and you can’t really mess it up unless you force it in the wrong way. The steam release and pressure indicator are also easy to see. Compared to my older Instant Pot, the steam release feels a bit better thought out – less chance of accidentally putting your hand in the way of the steam if you’re paying even minimal attention.

The control panel is laid out clearly: large central display, touch buttons around it. I like that the main modes are not buried in sub-menus. Pressure level, time and temperature are simple to adjust. The downside of touch controls is that if your fingers are wet or oily, you sometimes need to tap twice for it to register, but that’s the same story with most modern appliances. There are no physical dials, which some people might miss.

In day-to-day use, the design is just practical. The handles on the sides are big enough to grip confidently when the pot is full. The white finish means you see stains quickly, but it also means you actually clean them instead of ignoring them. If you’re looking for something super stylish, this is more “appliance that lives on the counter” than a decor piece, but for a cooker that’s fine by me. It’s built to be used, not admired.

The main materials are pretty standard for an Instant Pot: a stainless steel inner pot, plastic outer shell, and metal/plastic lid. The inner pot is where it matters most, and here it feels solid. It’s thick enough that it doesn’t warp when you sear meat on Saute mode, and food doesn’t stick too badly as long as you use a bit of oil and don’t burn things to death. The fact that it’s dishwasher safe is a big plus. I’ve run it through the dishwasher several times and it still looks fine so far – no weird discoloration or warping.

The plastic on the exterior is decent but you can tell they saved a bit of money there. It doesn’t feel flimsy, but it’s not high-end either. When you tap the sides, you get that typical hollow plastic sound. That said, it’s easy to wipe down and it hasn’t scratched yet, even after bumping it against the backsplash and sliding it around the counter. The matte finish helps hide minor scuffs.

The lid has a mix of metal and plastic parts, plus the silicone sealing ring. The ring is what usually picks up smells on these devices. After a few uses (especially with curry and garlic-heavy stews), the ring started to smell like, well, last night’s dinner. That’s normal for these cookers, not a specific flaw of this model, but it’s worth knowing. You can remove the ring and wash it separately in the dishwasher, which I strongly recommend. Some people buy a second ring just for sweet dishes to avoid flavour transfer.

Overall, the materials feel good enough for regular use. It’s not premium like a high-end stainless steel stovetop cooker, but it’s also not cheap junk. For the price and the feature set, the build quality makes sense. If you treat it normally – don’t drop the lid, don’t scrub the pot with metal tools – it feels like it should hold up well for everyday family cooking.

I haven’t owned this exact unit for years obviously, but based on a few weeks of daily use and my experience with older Instant Pots, I’ve got a decent idea of how it might hold up. The inner stainless steel pot is usually the long-term workhorse, and here it feels solid. No warping so far, even after searing on high Saute and then pressure cooking. As long as you avoid metal utensils and harsh scrubbing, this part should last several years easily.

The parts that tend to age worse on these cookers are the silicone sealing ring and the plastic trim. The ring, as expected, picks up smells quickly. That’s not really a durability issue, more of a comfort thing, but after a year or two you’ll probably want to replace it. Thankfully, replacement rings are cheap and easy to find. The lid mechanism feels sturdy; the hinge doesn’t wobble and it doesn’t feel like it’s going to snap off if you open it one-handed.

The outer shell and touch panel are more of a question mark long-term. The plastic body is thick enough that it shouldn’t crack under normal use, but if you drop it or bang it hard, I wouldn’t be shocked to see some damage. The touch controls might scratch if you’re rough or stack stuff on top of it in a cupboard, so I’d keep it somewhere it can just sit without heavy things on it. So far, the display hasn’t shown any glitches or dead segments.

From a purely practical point of view, the Instant Pot Pro 5.7L feels like a cooker you can use several times a week for years, as long as you’re not abusing it. It’s not bombproof, but it’s not fragile either. Expect to replace cheap parts like the sealing ring over time, but the core heating and cooking hardware seem solid enough for long-term use based on how it’s built and how it behaves under daily cooking.

On performance, this is where the Instant Pot Pro 5.7L actually earns its place on the counter. The 1200W power and the 20% faster pre-heating claim feel realistic. When I pressure cooked a beef stew from cold tap water, it took roughly 10–12 minutes to come up to pressure, whereas my older 6L Instant Pot often sat around 15–18 minutes. Over a week of cooking, that adds up, especially when you’re hungry and impatient.

Cooking results have been consistently decent to very good. Rice on the Rice program comes out fluffy if you rinse it properly and respect the water ratio. I did basmati and jasmine; both turned out fine, no hard grains at the top. Stews and curries benefit from the NutriBoost feature, which basically makes gentle pulses during cooking. It’s not magic, but I did notice fewer “burn” warnings and slightly more even texture, especially in thicker sauces. Yoghurt also worked: I followed a basic recipe, and it thickened nicely overnight.

In terms of time savings, pressure cooking really does cut down cooking time compared to using a pot on the stove or an oven. A pulled pork that would usually take 4–5 hours in the oven was done in about 1.5 hours including preheat and depressurizing. Same story for dried beans: soaked beans were ready in under an hour, which is way more practical than watching a pot all afternoon. For workdays, that’s the main win – you set it, walk away, and it beeps when done.

Noise-wise, it’s mostly quiet except when releasing steam. Natural release is silent but slow; quick release is loud and you get a good burst of steam, so you don’t want your face near it. The fan during some programs is audible but not annoying – quieter than a microwave, louder than a toaster. Overall, performance is pretty solid: it cooks evenly, it’s predictable once you know your preferred times, and it genuinely saves you time on dishes that usually take ages.

Out of the box, the Instant Pot Pro 5.7L comes with the cooker base, the stainless steel inner pot, the lid with the pressure valve, and the usual extras (power cord, manual, and a basic steam rack). Nothing fancy, but everything you need to start cooking the same day. The unit is fairly chunky: about 35.5 x 35.5 x 32.5 cm and around 6.7 kg. So it’s not something you casually move around all the time, it needs a semi-permanent spot on the counter or a low shelf.

The front panel is a touch control interface with clearly labelled programs like Pressure Cook, Slow Cook, Saute, Rice, Steam, Yoghurt, Sous Vide, Bake and NutriBoost. I didn’t feel lost, even on first use. Compared to my older Instant Pot with more basic buttons, this one feels more modern but not confusing. The screen is bright enough to read from across the kitchen, which sounds like a detail but is actually helpful when you’re multitasking.

The manual is decent – not brilliant, but clear enough. I had to Google a couple of things (especially around the NutriBoost mode and some app functions), but for the core pressure cooking and slow cooking, the instructions are straightforward. If you’ve never owned a pressure cooker, you’ll want to read it properly once, but after that it’s mostly muscle memory: lid on, set time, walk away.

In practice, the overall presentation is pretty no-nonsense: you plug it in and you can cook right away. No weird assembly, no tiny parts to lose. The only thing I would’ve liked is a couple more accessories in the box, like a rice paddle or a second rack layer for steaming. For the price, they could have added one or two extras. But the basics are there and functional, which is what matters most.

Effectiveness for me is simple: does this thing reduce my effort and stress when cooking? In my case, yes, mostly. The pressure cook and slow cook modes cover most of my weekday meals. I can throw in onions, carrots, meat, stock, hit Pressure Cook, and go deal with something else. No stirring every 5 minutes, no worrying about the bottom burning if I get distracted. That alone makes it worth using several times a week.

The keep-warm function is one of those boring features that ends up being very useful. When the program finishes, it switches to keep-warm automatically. I’ve left food in there for over an hour and it stayed hot without drying out too much. It’s not perfect for everything (rice can get a bit clumpy if you leave it too long), but for stews, soups, and chilli it works very well. Coming home to food that’s already hot is a big help on long days.

Some modes I found more “nice to have” than essential. The Bake function works, but you’re not getting crispy oven-style results. It’s more like a moist cake or bread pudding style. Sous vide also works but is limited by the size; it’s fine for a couple of steaks or chicken breasts, but if you’re into hardcore sous vide cooking, you’re better off with a dedicated stick. The Steam mode is good for veg and dumplings, but you need to play with timing a bit to avoid overcooking.

Overall, in daily life, the Instant Pot Pro 5.7L is effective where it matters most: one-pot meals, batch cooking, and anything that usually hogs your oven for hours. It doesn’t replace every appliance, and it’s not magic, but it definitely cuts down the active time I spend in the kitchen. If you’re the type who hates hovering over pans, you’ll probably use it a lot. If you love hands-on cooking and tweaking everything, you might see it more as a backup tool than your main way of cooking.